Method of forming a shaped section for guiding and sealing a movable window

ABSTRACT

A method for forming a shaped section for the guidance and sealing of a movable window, in particular of a motor vehicle door, formed from an elastomer extruded onto a metal reinforcement and comprising a first part which forms a clamp, capable of being fastened onto the shaped section of the frame of the movable window, and a second part with a U-shaped section, turned in the opposite direction to said first part and serving as a guidance and sealing member for the movable window, the base of the U of the second part comprising a portion with the metal reinforcement removed and forming a resilient flexible hinge made from said elastomer. The part of the reinforcement of the second part which does not adjoin the reinforcement of the first part, forming a clamp for the shaped section, has been adapted by swaging or stretching, over at least a part of its length, to the shape of the window frame.

This application is a division, of application Ser. No. 07/433,002,filed Nov. 8, 1989, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,792.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a shaped section for guiding andsealing of a movable window, such as those in motor vehicle doors andmore particularly, to a shaped section for use with a motor vehicle doorhaving a flush-type window.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

In published French Patent Application No. 2,596,138, the presentApplicant has described a shaped section made from an extruded elastomerand having a metal reinforcement. A first part of the shaped section,forming a clamp, enables it to be fastened onto the frame of the movablewindow, and a second part, having a U-shaped section and termed a"slide", serves as a guidance and sealing member for the movable window.Between these two parts, a U-shaped third part, which is rigidlyintegral with the first part, may accommodate an auxiliary shapedsection forming a weatherstrip of the type termed a "lapping member", atleast one lip of which laps the outer face of the closed window. Thislapping member may also form an integral part of the shaped section.

According to this patent application, the first part which forms a clampand the second part which forms the guidance member are mutuallyarticulated by means of a resilient hinge produced by bending thecentral portion of the metal reinforcement of the shaped section priorto the extrusion of the elastomer onto the reinforcement. This bentportion then is cut off after the extrusion so that the reinforcement isremoved. However, a fraction of the elastomeric covering remains, whichthereby forms the connecting hinge.

In its published application for a certificate of addition No. 8,716,334in France No. 2,623,596, the Applicant subsequently proposed an improvedvariant of this shaped section in which the resilient hinge permits notonly a relative pivoting of the parts of the shaped section which itjoins, but also a translational movement of the slide substantially inthe plane of displacement of the movable window. A shaped section ofthis type may be produced in a simple manner by forming a metal stripwhich is intended to form the reinforcement into the appropriate shapeby cutting this strip longitudinally into two fractions at a locationcorresponding to that of the resilient flexible hinge. The elastomer issimultaneously extruded onto the two fractions of strip which are in anappropriate adjacent position and have been previously coated with anagent promoting the adhesion of this elastomer onto the metal of thestrip. This coating may be carried out before or after the shaping ofthe metal strip.

In a further embodiment of such a method, the cutting of the metal striptakes place immediately after the extrusion of the elastomer, whichcovers the whole of the two portions of strip so as to produce a singleshaped section comprising the articulating hinge and the sealing lips.

The translational movement of the slide which serves as a guidancemember for the movable window occurs at the end of the movement of thewindow, when it reaches the closed position. The edge of the windowpresses this part towards the adjacent part of the frame with asimultaneous pivoting movement relative to the part forming a clamp.This movement ensures an improved sealing of the window while at thesame time facilitating its displacement.

The present invention relates to a variant embodiment of a shapedsection of this type intended to be fitted to door frames having anunrounded corner part with a small radius of curvature. In such doorframes, it is known to reinforce the corresponding parts of theweatherstrips by molding an additional part, which expands to the shapeof the frame, onto the sealing lip or onto the tubular element whichthis lip adjoins. (See, e.g., published French Patent Application No.2,624,191).

The shaped section described in the above-mentioned application for acertificate of addition No. 8,716,334 is suitable for rounded corners ofa window frame which have a large radius of curvature but is notentirely appropriate for window frames having corners with an acuteangle or a small radius of curvature.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to overcome thisdisadvantage by making the shaped sections of this type capable ofhugging perfectly the shape of the bodywork in the corners of suchwindow frames.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a shaped sectionof this type which is entirely capable of ensuring the guidance andsealing of a movable window of a motor vehicle door, even when the frameof this window has corners with an acute angle or a small radius ofcurvature.

The foregoing and additional objects are attained by providing a shapedsection for the guidance and sealing of a movable window, such as for amotor vehicle door, formed from an elastomer extruded onto a metalreinforcement. The shaped section comprises a first part forming aclamp, which is capable of being fastened onto the shaped section of theframe of the movable window, and a second part with a U-shaped section,turned in the opposite direction to the first part and serving as aguidance and sealing member for the movable window. The base of the "U"of the second part comprises a portion with the metal reinforcementremoved and forming a resilient flexible hinge made from the elastomer,wherein the part of the reinforcement of the second part which does notadjoin the reinforcement of the first part has been adapted to the shapeof the window frame by swaging over at least a part of its length.

As described in the above-mentioned application for a certificate ofaddition, it will be possible for the shaped section to be fitted with aso-called window lapping member. This member forms an independentelement attached to the shaped section and is housed in a part having aU-shaped section and an opening turned in the opposite direction to thatof the part forming a clamp. Alternatively, the member may be formed asan integral part of the shaped section by extrusion with the latter.

A further subject of the invention is a method for manufacturing ashaped section of this type for the guidance and sealing of a movablewindow in which a metal strip, which is to form the reinforcement of theshaped section, is fashioned into the appropriate shape. This strip isthen cut into two portions at a location corresponding to that of theresilient hinge and the elastomer is extruded simultaneously onto thetwo portions in an appropriate adjacent position, wherein, after theelastomer has hardened, the portion of the reinforcement of the secondpart which does not adjoin the reinforcement of the part forming a clampis adapted by swaging, over at least a part of its length, to theprofile of the window frame, especially in the corners of the frame.

In particular, it will be possible for this swaging operation to beapplied to the portion of the reinforcement of the shaped sectioncorresponding to at least one corner of the window frame.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art from the specification and drawingswhich follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view of a door having a conventional window frame, onecorner of which is virtually unrounded and has a small radius ofcurvature;

FIG. 2 is a cross-section of the shaped section of the present inventioncombined with this door frame along the line II--II in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a similar cross-section along the line III--III in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows a motor vehicle door 1 equipped with an opening 2 which maybe closed by a movable window 3. The frame 4 of this opening has anunrounded corner 5 with an acute angle and the shaped section accordingto the present invention which is fitted therein aims to ensure asatisfactory guidance of the window and a good sealing, even in thisunrounded corner 5.

As can be seen in FIG. 2, this shaped section comprises a U-shaped clamppart 6, which is made integral with the frame 4 of the door 1 by fittingover a rebate of this frame. This clamp part 6 is attached to a secondU-shaped slide part 7 (FIG. 3), serving as a guidance and sealing memberfor the movable window 3.

The U-shaped sections of the parts 6 and 7 are inverted relative to eachother.

As described in the above-mentioned application for a certificate ofaddition No. 8,716,334, the clamp 6 and the slide 7 comprise a metalreinforcement 8 covered with an elastomer 9. The reinforcement 8 isdivided in the base region of the U of the slide 7 so as to define twolengths 8a and 8b which are mutually articulated in the region of theirseparation point by an elastomeric hinge 10. Thus, the length 8b is ableto pivot relative to the length 8a and the length 8a to movetranslationally when the window 3 comes to bear against the bottom ofthe slide 8, at the end of its travel (i.e., the position where thewindow is closed (FIG. 3)).

According to the present invention, at least in the part of the shapedsection corresponding to the corner 5 of the window frame 4 (FIG. 1),the length 8b of the reinforcement which does not adjoin the clamp 6 isadapted, for example by swaging or stretching to the profile of thebodywork in this corner 5 of the frame 4. In other words, the length 8bat the corner 5 is longer than the length 8b at the straight portion ofthe frame 4, as can be seen by comparing FIGS. 2 and 3. The shapedsection thus hugs the shape of the window frame 4 perfectly over itsentire length, including the corner 5 where the reinforcement 8b hasbeen deformed so as to be adapted to the frame, as FIGS. 2 and 3. Thebottom of the slide 7 is thus elongated and inclined towards the cornerof the window frame and the window 3 may easily housed therein in anentirely sealing manner when the window is in the closed position.

The shaped section comprises, in addition, a sealing element or lappingmember 12 which adjoins the clamp 6 and is anchored thereon by a part 13of the reinforcement 6 which has been bent back. A lip 14 of thislapping member, having flocked fibers (not shown) on its surface, comesinto contact with the inner face of the window 3 in the closed position(FIG. 3), whereas a lip 15 of the slide, also flocked and adjoining thelateral strip 16 opposite the lapping member 12, ensures the sealing onthe outer face of the window 3.

A shaped section of this type and its flexible articulation 10 areproduced by pre-coating a continuous strip of metal with an agentpromoting the adhesion of an elastomer to metal. The metal which is toform the reinforcement may, for example, be aluminum. The metal strip isthen bent into the desired shape using, for example, a roller system.Just before introducing the shaped strip into an extruder head, themetal strip is cut using a shearing wheel along a line corresponding tothe location of the hinge 1. Thereafter, the extruder head covers thestrip with an elastomer to form the desired profile, whilesimultaneously producing the lapping member and the various lips.

After extrusion of the elastomer, the resulting shaped section isprevulcanized, coated by flocking fibers at the locations which are tocome into contact with the window 3 and cut into rectilinear elementarysections.

The elementary sections are then adapted to the profile of the doorframe and, in the corners thereof, the length 8b of the reinforcement isdeformed by swaging or stretching so a to hug the shape of this corner.

It should become obvious to those skilled in the art that the presentinvention is not limited to the preferred embodiments shown anddescribed.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of forming a shaped section for guidingand sealing a movable window, comprising the steps of:providing areinforcing strip; cutting said reinforcing strip into two portions;then extruding an elastomeric material onto said two portions, whilemaintaining said two portions in an adjacent relationship, thereby toform a resilient hinge therebetween; hardening said elastomericmaterial; and forming at least a part of one portion adjacent saidresilient hinge to follow the profile of a window frame including acorner, said forming step comprising swaging said part of said oneportion to elongate said part to take on a shape which closely followsthe shape of said corner.